GUEST

Randy Clark: Waking Up the Church

By
The 700 Club

Randy Clark defines the power of impartation as receiving divine grace to do be able to do in the natural what humanly can't be done – it's a supernatural gift from God. It comes by faith and is rooted in Jesus' death on the cross and the complete work of the cross. Jesus died not only to give the gift of salvation and eternal life, but also give the power of signs and miracles. This is not an addition, but the completion of the work of Jesus' cross.

The primary purpose for these manifestations is to reveal the nature of God – love, kindness, generosity, etc. God should receive the glory. This is a biblical doctrine that is almost forgotten today. Randy says it is almost forgotten because a lot of people haven't heard of it. Also, it hasn't been taught because many times most theology hasn't supported it because it is not the experience of many theologians. Even though Randy went through seminary, it was over a decade before he heard about impartation, or anointing.

Randy's first encounter with impartation happened when he wanted to go to St. Louis to plant a church. He was kind of apprehensive because he was afraid he would fail. But, God's power helped him overcome the fear and he was able to plant the church.

People should not let their spiritual experiences overshadow God's Word. Randy says his strongest rebuke from God came when the Lord told him he was not to become an experience-based preacher. Randy should teach the Word and let his experience rise up to the level of the Word, instead of letting experiences dictate who God is and what He will do or how we interpret the Word.

HOW TO RECEIVE THE IMPARTATION

Randy wants to make an important clarification: the laying on of hands is certainly not the ONLY way of receiving an impartation from God. It is simply one of two ways seen in Scripture, the other being waiting on God through prayer. However, it is a means often forgotten and neglected by the Church. Because of the diversity of Christian experience, people may ask how does one receive the impartation of a specific anointing or a baptism of the Spirit? Unfortunately, church traditions tend to reduce the ways of God to steps and stages that leave little room for God to pour out His multi-faceted grace in ways uniquely suited to each of His children. In the history of the church, there have been two basic approaches to receiving impartation. The first is to try to pursue holiness as a matter of conquering sin in one's life. “When one has become sanctified, then one is eligible for a powerful impartation."

The second approach is to simply put one's faith in the finished work of Jesus and know this as truth in one's life. Randy says the only true prerequisites in receiving more of the Holy Spirit are quite simple.

There are three:

1) Be aware of the personal inadequacy in our Christian life. We must come to a place of facing our weakness and inability to affect the work of the Kingdom.

2) We must earnestly desire for this condition to change. We must allow the Holy Spirit to develop within us a serious desire to be victorious Christians.

3) We must want our lives to honor God and be used in His service and for His glory. We do not ask for a spiritual high to make us feel good. Rather, we ask for power and gifts to make up commensurate to the task before us of binding the “strong man” of Matthew 12:29 and plundering his home.

If someone doesn't manifest the spiritual gifts right away, Randy doesn’t condemn them, but encourages and strengthens the person. He does not say it's because of a lack of faith. There are times we do not understand the mysteries of God, but we should come with expectation.

THE FRUIT OF IMPARTATION

Randy says the gifts aren’t seen much today because people aren't expecting much, or don't truly believe God will do what He says. The impartation is needed today to continue the Lord's work. Christians will be known for their fruitfulness. Randy adds that it is the fruit talked about in John 15 - the miraculous - not limited to the fruits of the spirit mentioned in Galatians. The primary purpose for these manifestations is to reveal the nature of God – love, kindness, generosity, etc. God should receive the glory.

An example of the fruit of impartation is Rolland and Heidi Baker, long-term missionaries in Mozambique. Rolland is the grandson of Pentecostal missionary to China H.A. Baker, and grew up hearing about the miraculous work his grandfather did. Rolland and Heidi went to Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (where the Toronto Blessing occurred) at different times and were touched by God and His power. They received words about spiritual revival for Mozambique. The Bakers prayed for the local people to receive healing and they did. Through the years, they have seen lasting fruit in the country. They have started 7,000 churches, seen almost a million converts, and as of March 2006, 54 people raised from the dead mostly in Muslim provinces.

THE BLESSING

On January 20, 1994, Randy walked into a small storefront church in an industrial park near the Toronto Airport. What was supposed to be a 3-day meeting has lasted until the present day attracting crowds from around the world. News of God’s visitation quickly spread. In all his meetings, Randy prays a simple prayer, “More, Lord. More of Your Spirit.” In the years since the Toronto Blessing, Randy has chauffeured the Holy Spirit into hundreds of cities around the world, reaching out to many cultures and denominations. As he travels he preaches a simple message: “God wants to use you.” Randy believes he has failed if he hasn’t instructed people that Christians should share their faith, pray for the sick, and learn how to cast out demons. “That’s part of the Gospel. It’s not peripheral,” he says. The late John Wimber prophesied over Randy Clark in 1984 that he had an apostolic call on his life and would one day have a translocal ministry of impartation. The prophecy seemed outrageous at the time because Randy had never left the continental US nor was rarely asked to speak anywhere.

Randy grew up in a fundamentalist Baptist Church and came to know the Lord intimately following a car accident at age 18. Following many meetings with John Wimber, Randy says the Lord directed him to establish a Vineyard Church in St. Louis in 1986 where only 11 people came in the first 11 months. This “desert experience” was felt by many in the mid-80s and by 1993; he was discouraged, miserable, and distressed. That summer Randy attended a Howard-Browne conference in Tulsa that changed his life. He says he was touched, received an impartation forcefully by the Holy Spirit and healed of a nervous condition. The next Sunday back in his home church, Randy reports that a worshipper “fell under the power of the Spirit.” She lay on the floor for 45 minutes, laughing and slapping her thigh. Word quickly spread in Vineyard circles about what was happening in St. Louis. Randy was invited to speak at regional and national denominational meetings where he says the Spirit moved powerfully. He was then invited to speak in Canada where God used him to begin the Toronto Blessing.